Thursday, October 20, 2011

St. Teresa Crab Casserole

Many years ago I worked on our Junior League cookbook and I was in charge of the Seafood Section. We are so very fortunate to have an abundance of delicious seafood available year round from the Gulf of Mexico and the good news is that our area was not affected by the most recent oil spill. Our state continually tests our seafood for that reason.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on our league cookbook and it was a three year adventure testing and retesting to put out what we considered to be a very professional publication. I also think it has with stood the test of time as well and gives those buying this book a real feel for our community and our Southern traditions.
One of my most favorite recipes in this book is St. Teresa Crab Casserole. St. Teresa is a small private community along the Gulf Coast where many families from our town have beach homes. St. Teresa also has some family significance in that one of it's original founders was the great grandfather of my daughter in law. We very often spend many wonderful and memorable times along this beach. This recipe has also become a family favorite.

St. Teresa Crab Casserole
serves 4-5

1 pound lump crabmeat
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 dashes Tobasco
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
1 cup saltine cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Carefully pick crabmeat to remove any shells without breaking up pieces. Prepare sauce with mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Tobasco, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well; add crab and 1/4 cup cracker crumbs. Pour in a buttered 6-inch baking dish or individual reamkins. Top with remaining cracker crumbs and dot with butter.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a little golden brown on top.

You could probably substitute panko for the saltines but I love the additional saltiness of the saltines.

The butter dotted on top helps it to brown plus a little added flavor.
There are many Crab Casserole recipes but this one is my favorite mainly because I love the taste of crab and I don't care for a lot of ingredients that over power the wonderful taste of our delicious blue crabs.
It is quite simply delicious especially pared with some fresh in season vegetables and a good bottle of your favorite white wine.

I am linking this post to Foodie Friday.
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11 comments:

  1. MarthaOctober 20, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    Carolyn -- this looks so good but alas, Crab is not real prevalent on the prairie! But I may have to hunt some down for this does look like a good dish! BTW, that is a great cookbook and a favorite of mine!

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  2. Blondie's JournalOctober 20, 2011 at 11:25 PM

    We get some excellent crab shipped fresh here to Chicago, so I am definitely going to copy this recipe!! Thanks so much!

    XO,
    Jane

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  3. PondsideOctober 21, 2011 at 12:40 AM

    Crab is easy to come by here, so I'd like to give this a try. It would be a treat around Christmas time when there are so many heavy dishes on the menu.

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  4. williamOctober 21, 2011 at 8:03 AM

    Carolyn, this looks like my dream of a perfect thing to make. It would make me so nostalgic for my Mother and my Aunt, because they would truly appreciate it-- nothing better! I will check to see if it is possible to get any fresh crab at our town's seafood market. Yes, it would be a treat around the holidays! Thank you for sharing such a tried and true family recipe.

    Francie

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  5. Mary BergfeldOctober 21, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    What a lovely dish, Carolyn. It sounds delicious and in the great scheme of things is easy to do. Easy and delicious is hard to beat. You asked about the use of jars to measure ingredients. Molly Wizenberg originally used French yogurt jars to measure ingredients. The jars she used held 1/2-cup. I hope this helps. Blessings...Mary

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  6. Mari @ Once Upon a PlateOctober 22, 2011 at 8:52 PM

    Hi Carolyn, Your crab casserole looks delicious ~ I'm definitely going to have to give this one a go ~ plenty of Dungeness crab here in Oregon.

    You had asked about the Pate Terrine, it coves in 4 colors ~ I've posted a link over on my blog as to where to purchase. The best price I've found plus FREE shipping! You'll love these, I have the Flame/orange too, and now I'm wanting the red and white ~ really versatile pieces, especially for small families. You'll find the link here: www.http://onceuponaplate1.com xoxo ~m

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  7. VonOctober 23, 2011 at 1:10 AM

    Oooh...working on a cookbook sounds like heaps of fun!! Three years sounds like a pretty long time- you must have put quite a lot effort into it!
    I love seafood- I don't think I eat enough of it! Your crab casserole looks delicious! I can definitely see why it's one of your favourite recipes ;) I love the look of the crispy crust!!

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  8. SavoringTime in the KitchenOctober 23, 2011 at 6:45 PM

    What a great experience to get to work on a junior league cookbook! This crab casserole sounds delicious. It's hard to find really good crab here but I love it.

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  9. glyndaOctober 24, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    I have to think that this would be just as delicious with shrimp - probably not as rich but just as good - have you tried it with shrimp?

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  10. RettabugOctober 25, 2011 at 4:29 AM

    I am sooooo copying down this recipe, Carolyn! I can almost imagine the flavors in it right now. Sure wish we had access to all the fresh seafood that you have. That is one of the biggest things we miss about no longer living in FL. :-(

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  11. RettabugOctober 25, 2011 at 4:37 AM

    Popping back in to tell you that I just ordered your JR. League cookbook! I ♥♥♥ Jr.L cookbooks, since, like you said, all the recipes are TNT & triple tested.

    Thanks for telling me/us about it!

    Hugs,
    Rett

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